“I realised then that while in most of the major cities of the US one could find a field nearby; cricket enthusiasts had to travel hours to play the game if they lived in second tier cities or small towns,” he says.
Later, shifting to northern New Jersey he discovered a membership inside a forty five minute drive, however there have been nonetheless issues. “As a new guy in town without a car, it was very difficult to go to play for any club. Friends from Edison Cricket Club in New Jersey picked me up and dropped me off every weekend for an entire summer,” he remembers.
His subsequent transfer was to the Capital Region of New York the place Adikoppula discovered TriCity Cricket Club the place he was the one Indian within the workforce. “I played with a great bunch of Guyanese and Pakistani team mates who welcomed me,” he says. But the lengthy commutes to play cricket remained and typically he needed to spend even six hours on the street, for video games in New York City and Connecticut. “After all the travel, around 30% of the games got cancelled due to bad weather or unavailability of enough number of players in the opposition teams,” he says.
But issues have modified so much since then, Adikoppula feels, due to USA Cricket and Major League Cricket. “With cricket becoming a prominent sport under USA Cricket and their commercial partner Major League Cricket, thousands of young players are starting to take it up. In the next 10 years, the game will spread beyond just major cities and the 2nd tier cities will also have enough cricket playing youth,” he says.
Back in 2015, Adikoppula had arrange an area not-for-profit cricket league with the help of mates within the Capital Region. “Capital District Cricket Association (CDCA) was formed when we had no local cricket except one team for the entire region. With the association, we were able to increase participation immensely and today we have grown to 10 teams in the cricket ball league in the area,” he says.
Early on, there have been many hurdles with the dearth of infrastructure and umpires. “We would apply for field access at every possible place where we could think of getting one. The local cities, towns and churches allowed us to use some of the fields for cricket games but the size of the fields, outfield conditions and pitch preparation were always a challenge,” he remembers.
But that didn’t deter Adikoppula and fellow volunteers at CDCA from making efforts to introduce cricket in lots of native colleges, YMCA branches and city programmes. “We are starting to see some diverse community participation and more youth coming out to play cricket, and some schools starting to add the game in their curriculum,” he says.
Adikoppula, who had additionally began the Albany Highlanders Cricket Club, finds efforts to introduce the sport in native colleges gaining momentum throughout America.
“Many local leagues, cricket academies and summer camps are engaging the youth and working as grassroots growth engines to develop the game. We are also starting to see corporate sponsors and private investors backing cricket now,” he says.
Adikoppula can be an enthusiastic cricket coach however feels that one of many largest challenges is that the sport just isn’t accessible to everybody. “Until cricket is played in most schools across the US, it is going to remain a challenge for boys and girls to find time outside their daily schedule. Most of the youngsters who are playing today in the USA are from south Asian and Caribbean descent as their parents’ passion is passed on to them. Most of the local area schools do not have a cricket field and there are not enough cricket sporting goods stores,” he rues.
In truth, to accommodate the rising demand for higher amenities within the Albany space, Adikoppula, together with 4 different Indian Americans have constructed three skilled turf wicket fields and follow nets.
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The lifetime of a cricket participant and coach in America is a really busy one and Adikoppula feels that he’s typically compromising on household time and leisure. “It is not easy to follow the passion for cricket, especially when you are in a foreign land without any additional family help. Besides there are immigration related issues; challenges in keeping up with the day job and taking care of a family with young children. And putting hard earned money and sweat equity into something that has no return on investment requires a lot the support,” he feels.
He is joyful that his household, mates and well-wishers help his cricket craziness.
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com